Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

An Analysis Of Hurricane Laura's Storm Surge In Cameron Parish Using Synthetic Storm Tracks, Climatology, And Statistics, Cameron Goff

LSU Master's Theses

Cameron Parish is a large coastal parish in southwest Louisiana that has been impacted by several powerful tropical cyclones. In 2020, the strongest hurricane in recorded history to ever hit this region, Hurricane Laura, set a state record for the highest storm surge measurement at 6.34 meters. I examine the climatology of tropical cyclone landfalls in this parish, looking for trends in intensity and frequency with time. I then compare the extreme surge of Hurricane Laura with a dataset of 645 synthetic tropical cyclones generated and used by the Coastal Hazards System for Louisiana. Plots comparing various meteorological statistics to …

A Numerical Investigation Of Sediment Dynamics In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico In Connection With Hurricanes, Fluid Mud, Climate Change, And Biogeochemical Cycling, Zhengchen Zang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Sediment transport and deposition in marginal seas is jointly controlled by many factors including hydrodynamics, fluvial inputs, and the characteristics of sediment particles. This dissertation study employs the coupled ocean-atmosphere-wave-and-sediment transport modeling system (COAWST) to investigate the mechanism of sediment transport in the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM) on different temporal scales, as well as its interaction with biogeochemical processes.

First of all, a three-way coupled (atmosphere-wave-ocean) hurricane model reproduced the hydro- and sediment dynamics during hurricane Gustav (2008). Intensive alongshore and offshore currents were simulated on the eastern/western sectors of hurricane track, respectively. High suspended sediment concentration (SSC) was …

Oligohaline Wetland Response And Recovery Following Storm-Driven Saltwater Intrusion In Coastal Louisiana, Whitney Marie Kiehn

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Coastal ecosystems occupy an interface between land and ocean, making them vulnerable to a variety of natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Large, episodic disturbances (mega-disturbances) cause immediate and long-lasting changes to coastal wetland plant communities and soils by changing the environmental conditions in which they exist. Here I examined the impacts of storm-induced saltwater intrusion and post-intrusion conditions on the structure and growth of an oligohaline wetland plant community, and on wetland soil biogeochemistry and conditions during and after saltwater intrusion. In the greenhouse, a six-week saltwater intrusion reduced canopy cover and species richness. Once intrusion stress was alleviated, plant community …

Patterns And Pathways Of Wetland Sedimentation And Landscape Change In Coastal Louisiana, Andrew William Tweel

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Coastal Louisiana wetlands exist in a dynamic physical environment and retracted dramatically in the last century. Here I examine the spatial and temporal variability of this landscape with an emphasis on the interactions between anthropogenic landscape modifications and geological processes.

The Mississippi River watershed underwent drastic changes during the past 200 years, beginning with widespread land clearing and, later, large-scale reservoir construction. These modifications caused increases in suspended sediment concentrations, then sharp decreases, and have remained relatively stable since 1960. I show how changes in land area of the Mississippi River birdfoot delta reflect these fluctuations, and that they are …

Storm Surge Dynamics Over Wide Continental Shelves: Numerical Experiments Using The Finite-Volume Coastal Ocean Model, Joao Lima Rego

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Storm surge is an abnormal rise of the sea surface caused by atmospheric forcing, including the wind stress and atmospheric pressure associated with extra-tropical and tropical cyclones. Hurricanes and typhoons have a great impact on coastal regions, and can cause severe loss of lives and great damages. A systematic investigation of storm surge impact to the coasts of Louisiana and Texas, where the continental shelf reaches up to 200 km in width, is conducted here using the hydrodynamics Finite-Volume Coastal Ocean Model, FVCOM (Chen et al., 2003). The model is applied to the northern Gulf of Mexico to simulate the …

The Role Of Climate Variability And Riverine Pulsing In The Community Dynamics Of Estuarine Nekton In Breton Sound, Louisiana, Bryan Patrick Piazza

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Climate controls biotic community composition at multiple spatiotemporal scales through variability in environmental control mechanisms (assembly filters). This research investigated the role of climate variability in the community dynamics of estuarine nekton in Breton Sound estuary, Louisiana, and, specifically the effects of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), freshwater discharge, and a tropical cyclone. A teleconnection was found between ENSO and juvenile brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus) abundance in Breton Sound from 1988 – 2007. ENSO affected winter weather conditions (air pressure, temperature and precipitation), and spring brown shrimp abundance in Breton Sound. Juvenile brown shrimp abundance lagged ENSO by …

Assessment And Analysis Of Quikscat And Coamps Model Vector Wind Products For The Gulf Of Mexico: A Long-Term And Hurricane Perspective, Neha Sharma

LSU Master's Theses

Global weather changes have become a matter of grave concern in hurricane prone areas as intensities of hurricanes are observed to be increasing every year, necessitating improved monitoring capabilities. NASA’s QuikSCAT satellite sensor has provided significant support in analyzing and forecasting winds for the past 8 years. In this study, the performance of QuikSCAT products, including JPL’s latest L2B 12.5km swath winds, was evaluated against buoy-measured winds in the Gulf of Mexico. The long-term study period was 1/2005 – 2/2007. The Coupled Ocean/Atmospheric Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) was also assessed. The regression analyses showed very good results for QuikSCAT products, …